Finance chair: Special session possible on education funding

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said budget negotiators are close on everything but education funding, raising the prospect of a special session focused on that issue.

Ogden spoke to reporters after senators voted 30-1 to take about $800 million more from the rainy day fund than endorsed by House members. The $3.97 billion okayed by the Senate would cover the entire current fiscal year’s deficit.

House members have voted to cover the current fiscal year’s deficit with a combination of cuts and about $3.1 billion from the rainy day fund.

The Senate approach, since it also envisions the same cuts this fiscal year, would make about $800 million available to soften cuts in the upcoming two-year budget cycle, when big cutbacks are envisioned due to a revenue shortfall.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts said he expected a conference committee to be needed on the difference in rainy day spending.

Ogden said after the Senate vote that “there’s not a lot of disagreement” on any of the provisions of the budget except education, where senators voted to spend substantially more money.

“If we wanted to, we could go pass a bill and probably get a large majority in both Houses if it involved all articles except Article III,” which addresses education, he said.

“My personal opinion is that we need to agree on what we agree on, and then go to special session to work on our disagreements,” Ogden said.

Asked whether lawmakers might do that, then deal with school finance in a July special session, Ogden said, “That’s what would be my recommendation absent some sort of breakthrough on school finance, but I don’t see it. … The House and Senate agree on just about everything except education, and that’s all of education.”

Ogden said dealing with education in special session might give lawmakers time to hear more directly from local officials about proposed cuts. The House version of the budget plan would give school districts about $8 billion less through the next two years than they’d get under current formulas. The Senate cut would be about half that.

Ogden added, “The truth is is that it’s not impossible to pass a budget yet” in the regular session, which ends May 30. “There’s still a chance.”

As the budget wrangling continues, some lawmaker have said Comptroller Susan Combs should raise her revenue estimate given the performance of some taxes. There’s talk that she might do so soon.

“She’s indicated that she might,” Ogden said.

There’s also concern about differing agendas. Ogden said, “There are some senators, not me, but some who believe that this is all an elaborate trick to force us to vote on gambling. ‘Well, there’s no money anywhere else members, and you can’t spend this money and you can’t spend this money and you can’t spend this money — and you know you want to fund the schools, so how about putting it on the ponies?’